Did Matthews try to hide turkey imports?

Bernard Matthews is facing allegations that it may have failed to fully disclose the imports of turkey meat from a slaughterhouse 30 miles from an outbreak in Hungary.

• No link between UK and Hungary bird flu, say Europe chiefs

• Special report: Bird flu in the UK

It is believed these deliveries could have brought a lethal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus to the Suffolk factory farm run by the company.

The revelations come as it emerged customers are shunning Bernard Matthews turkey products -with sales of some frozen foods down 50 per cent.

Bird flu was confirmed at its farm, near Holton, on February 3. Some 160,000 turkeys were slaughtered to try to contain the outbreak. The food and farming department Defra and government ministers immediately pointed at migrating wild birds as the likely source of the virus.

However, there was an aboutface last Thursday when ministers shifted the blame to Bernard Matthews and imports of turkey meat from Hungary.

A leaked memo to the Government crisis committee, COBRA, suggests that this sudden change was - at least partly - driven by the accidental discovery of a delivery label in a rubbish bin at the Bernard Matthews plant. The memo, dated February 9, states: 'Defra epidemiologists have found a label in a waste bin on the Suffolk site with a reference that indicates it is from a third party abattoir, Gallfoods in Hungary, just outside the restricted zone.

'One possible unconfirmed route is that the abattoir processed birds from within the restricted area.'

Defra's epidemiologists have the job of tracking the source of the virus.

Bernard Matthews owns a subsidiary in Hungary, which saw an outbreak of bird flu in farmed geese in January.

Defra did not make details of the involvement of the Gallfoods abattoir, based at Keczemet, public. However, the Daily Mail revealed the link between the plant and Bernard Matthews on Saturday.

Food and Farming Secretary David Miliband refused to address the discovery of the wrapper and its implications for the investigation.

"The link between Hungary and Suffolk was established clearly by the scientific work which reported last Thursday and showed a genetic match between the outbreak of the bird flu on a turkey farm in Suffolk and the Hungarian version," he told ITV News.

Bernard Matthews last night insisted that it has never withheld information from Defra.

A spokesman said: "Bernard Matthews has always worked closely with Defra and given it prompt access to all information requested."

But there are fears for the future of the company after retail analysts revealed yesterday that sales of the Bernard Matthews brand were running 40-50 per cent down over the weekend compared to normal.

General turkey and poultry sales are down by around 10 per cent, as shoppers switch to other forms of protein, such as red meat.

Supermarkets have begun special promotions on Bernard Matthews lines including buy-one-get-one free on a host of products. The company bore the brunt of a domestic campaign against junk food in school meals over the past two years, spearheaded by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who slammed their 'Turkey Twizzlers' product.

Its profits slumped by almost a third last year, taking them down from just over £40million to £27.7million.

One analyst said: "The way things are going 2007 is going to be an annus horribilis for Bernard Matthews as a brand. The problem is that it is effectively a one product company.

"When that product, as in turkey, has a question put against it, that undermines the entire company."